LncRNA HEIH expression in cancer prognosis: A review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: As a newly discovered lncRNA, lncRNA High expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HEIH) has been reported to correlate with poor clinical outcomes in several different cancers, In addition, studies have shown that HEIH is overexpressed in a variety of cancers and plays an oncogenic role. The present meta-analysis aims to elucidate the relationship between HEIH expression and prognosis and clinicopathological features among cancer patients. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE database were comprehensively and systematically searched. pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were employed to assess the relationship between HEIH expression and clinical outcomes and clinicopathological features in cancer patients. Conclusion: The present study finally enrolled 11 studies which included 1227 cancer patients. The combined results indicated that HEIH overexpression was significantly associated with shorter overall survival (OS) (pooled HR = 2.03, 95% CI 1.74–2.38, P < .00001).Meanwhile, regarding clinicopathology of cancer patients, upregulated HEIH expression was closely related to larger tumor size (OR = 2.65, 95% CI: 1.52–4.65, P = .0006), advanced tumor T stage (OR = 2.41, 95 % CI: 1.54–3.77, P = .0001), advanced TNM stage (OR = 4.76, 95% CI: 2.73–8.29, P < .00001), distant metastasis (OR = 2.94, 95% CI: 1.75–4.96, P < .0001) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.05–4.07, P = .04), respectively. Conclusions: High expression of HEIH in some cancers predicts shorter overall survival and higher clinical stage as well as larger tumor size. HEIH has great potential to become a prognostic marker for cancer patients.